Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-05-28
AMONG OUTLAWS.
Hattie Benton's Fight with a Gang CT
River Pirates.

Hattie Benton's Fight with q Gang ci
River Pirates.
New York Sun.
The adventure of Hattie Benton. q girl
of sixteen, with gang of outlaws on the
Arkansas river, proved her bravery TO be
equal to that of any man living. Soon
after the war, while everything was yet
in confusion in the south, and especially
in the southwest, Benton moved from
| Missouri to Arkansas and settled upon
the Arkansas river at a point midway be-
| tween Pine Bluff and Arkansas Post. The
country was full of outlaws of all
sorts, and rObberies, assassination
and murder were rife in the lonely
sections. Benton lived on the bank
of the river, and furnished wood to the
steamboats,. Hattie was his only child,
and had been accustomed to the wild life
of the West since babyhood. The mother
was an invalid, who could scarcely leave
the house or wait upon herself. The
father was man of fiery temper, and peo-
pie soon learned that to attemptany love-
making with the girl would be pretty GER
tain to end in somebody's death. The
three or four gallants who came singing
shout were made to walk the plank, and
in time it came to be known along the
river that the old man Benton looked
upon his daughter as too good match
for anyone in those parts. Then it was
that az outlaw named Jack CummerfOrd
sent the old man 8 message that he was
coming to mske Hattie his wife. The
fellow was proprietor of whisky shanty,
and had two or three hard cases con-
stantly with him. While there was no
question that this crew was guilty of
stealing and robbing, and worse, the vic
tins hesitated to complain, and the law TO
arrest.
Cummerford heard of the girl long
enough before ne saw her, and the first
Benton heard of the outlaw was by way of
a message in which Cummerford told him
that be would be on hand in about ten
days to look the girl over, and if she
suited him, he would taker her away The
father boiled over at the impudence of the
message, and ne arranged to kill the out
law on sight. Had it been known Just
how ne would have come Cummerford
would have been welcomed with q bullet,
but the messenger did not state that part
of it, and after being on his guard several
days the father began to relax his vigil
lance, and believed the message to have
been nothing more than an idle boast.
One morning he went down to his wood
piles 10 find shsnty boat moored at the
bank, and e rough looking fellow Just
coming ashore. Jack Cummerford and his
gang had arrived, and the villain intended
to make his words good. Bolton was not
armed; the outlaw had g rife in his
hands. Suspecting some evil, the pion-
eer started to retreat, but was shot in the
back before he had gone thirty feet, and
he was dead almost as soon as the out
Law reached him. The three men then
proceeded to the house together. The
mother and daughter were preparing
breakfast, and were ordered to make
provision for their visitors They had
heard the rife shot, but before they
could voice their suspicious of what had
happened the leader of the gang brutally
said:
"Come, now, hurry up. I've come to
take the gal away, and as 1 thought the
old man might object, just laid him out on
the start. No sniveling, now, but get